by By JOHN TOMASE , The Boston Herald

The idea of clinching a wild card berth seemed pretty improbable last night when Victor Martinez grounded into a double play in the eighth inning with the Red Sox trailing the Blue Jays by six runs.

But against all logic, Fenway Park suddenly went berserk. The fans came to see a celebration, and they weren't leaving without it.

Kevin Youkilis doubled in a run, and the crowd roared. David Ortiz hit a double that was just shy of his 29th home run, and suddenly it felt like the Sox were playing for more than just a foregone conclusion of a playoff bid.

Jason Bay walked, and then it was utter bedlam when J.D. Drew launched a Shawn Camp offering over the home bullpen for a three-run shot that put the Red Sox within a run at 8-7.

All that remained was for the Red Sox to complete their comeback and get ready for the Angels, but it wasn't to be. Youkilis ended a marathon at-bat against Jason Frasor with the winning run at first base by looking at a third strike, a low borderline pitch that delayed the celebration for at least a little longer.

``It was a good atmosphere,'' center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury said. ``I liked how we battled back. We put ourselves in a position to win the game. The fans were definitely into it.''

As Fenway Park cleared out last night, the Sox were preparing to watch the Rangers play the Angels in a tilt that could get them into the playoffs with a Texas loss.

Some, like Martinez, were headed home.

``I'll probably be asleep,'' Martinez said.

Others, like Ellsbury, seemed ready for a celebration, with their champagne goggles on hand. Ortiz jokingly wondered if one of the bars near Fenway would serve him a free drink while he watched.

The Sox weren't sweating their fifth straight loss and second straight failure to clinch the wild card. They instead focused on the Baseball that put them in this position in the first place.

``We lost tonight, but we put ourselves in this situation by doing better in the regular season,'' Ortiz said. ``We worked our way to create this situation, and even if we didn't win tonight, we could be moving on to the playoffs, so it's a celebration.''

Clay Buchholz, who had been so sharp the past six weeks, saw his run of excellence hit a speed bump. The Jays touched him for seven runs on eight hits in five innings, blasting five homers off him as part of a six-homer barrage. Adam Lind hit three himself, two off Buchholz.

``Just looking at their stats in September, those guys are hitting the ball and swinging the bat really well,'' said Buchholz, who felt he had particular trouble with his two-strike pitches. ``Make mistakes like that to a team that can hit, and you see what happens.''

All of that said, the Sox nearly came all the way back. When Youkilis stepped to the plate against Frasor with Ellsbury at second and the speedy Joey Gathright at first, any hit to the outfield was going to tie and possibly win the game.

``We're moving with the pitch, and if he hits one anywhere near a gap we're both going to score,'' Gathright said. ``I had a lot racing through my mind. You're on first. You could be the winning run that gets your team to the playoffs. It would have been fun . . . but it didn't work out that way.''

So the Red Sox were left to wait, knowing full well that securing a postseason berth was merely a matter of when, not if.

``When you move on to the next level, you leave everything behind,'' Ortiz said. ``You feel like you've done something good to get to this point. That's why you've got to celebrate.''

- jtomase@bostonherald.com

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